It’s been ages since I got a new recipe book so I was really excited. I eagerly flipped through the pages, until I got to this recipe, then I stopped.

As you will have probably guessed I am sucker for Indian spices, and since a butternut squash recipe is perfect for this time of year, I decided that this is where I would start.

I haven’t eaten a lot of lamb before, in fact I never had lamb growing up, and my first taste was probably only a couple of months after starting this blog! So choosing a lamb dish to make first was a strange choice, but it was definitely worth it!

This recipe is a summer to autumn transitional recipe, it’s not stodgy, the lamb is cooked super fast, and a salad on the side.

Warm one 15ml of oil in a pan (1 tbsp), dust the spices across both sides of each lamb chop. Fry the chops for 2-3 minutes each side. I have to say I cooked mine for quite a bit longer. (I am Scottish, we like our meat cooked all the way through, none of the pinkness for me thank you very much!)

25g of golden sultanas, I just used the normal colour it tasted fine but the golden would have looked prettier

30ml of freshly boiled water

1/2 tsp of sherry vinegar, I used cider vinegar as that was all I had

50 grams of rocket, also called arugula

25grams of pine nuts

Preheat the oven to 200oC. Cut the butternut squash into slices and then into chunks (around 4 from each slice). Nigella says you don’t need to peel, but I didn’t find the peel very appetising

In a small bowl mix 15ml of oil with the spices and salt, then dunk in the squash pieces and “smoosh them about” until evenly coated. Remove the squash to a small roasting tin and put in the oven. Do not wash the bowl!

Around 20 minutes into the cooking time I added the pumpkin seeds to the roasting tin. Cook the squash in total for around 30 – 40 minutes, check after half an hour with a fork that it is cooked through. Once cooked place in the fridge to cool, take out an hour before serving. Or if you are like me, try to get it to cool down quickly before dunking it on top of your rocket leaves!

Add the sultanas to your still dirty bowl, add the hot boiled water and leave to soak till cooled. Whisk in the vinegar and the oil that remains.

Put half the salad leaves on the plate, top with pieces of squash, toasted pine nuts. Top with the rest of the rocket and the “sultana-studded” dressing.

It’s now been a couple of weeks since I made this, but I still remember the freshness of the flavours and how it felt warming and comforting without being stodgy or a stew. Which seems to me like perfect food for September.